Nic Combrinck taking on the Venture Capital landscape with determination

Nic Combrinck taking on the Venture Capital landscape with determination

“What really gets me excited is how we can co-create tomorrow.” Says Nic Combrinck, partner at Kingson Capital, a Venture Capital Company committed to providing venture capital for High-Growth Tech and Black-Owned SME’s. As a pivotal player within the team that launched its R 400 million High-Growth Tech and Black-Owned SME Fund (Fund Two) earlier this year, Combrinck’s dedication is certainly aiding the creation of a better tomorrow for entrepreneurs across South Africa.

With years of experience behind him within various businesses from start-up through to large corporate, primarily with a finance and operational process focus, he describes his journey to where he is today as unconventional but relevant. He is a qualified CA, but an engineer at heart, which would explain his thirst for learning the intrinsic nature of how things work. He applies this to everything that he undertakes and develops deep insights into his chosen field of work, never content with accepting what he is told but always testing and pushing the boundaries. .

Forming a large part of his portfolio, Fund Two’s core strategy is Corporate Venture Capital. “We see Corporate South Africa’s role in the broader SME ecosystem as very important and Venture Capital as a Service gives them exposure within this landscape in South Africa’” says Combrinck. “We are targeting 4 or 5 market leading corporates to invest into Kingson. I truly believe that in a years’ time, we will be talking about the amazing value that both our corporate investors and our portfolio companies will be deriving from this.”

When talking to Combrinck, it is hard not to be inspired by his conviction. “When we get the opportunity to put a small start-up business in front of a corporate giant, and the latter is blown away by the innovation and commercial opportunity, I instinctively know we are heading in the right direction. VC is changing the way all businesses are interacting with and consuming technology – this creates new value, new access and a new tomorrow for South Africa.”

The journey to this point has not always been an easy one, but the challenges along the way have firmly cemented Combrinck’s approach. “In qualifying for my CA, I struggled for a few years to pass my first board exam. This was one of my biggest challenges to date, but I value it because I really learned so much about myself. It humbled me and taught me the value of perseverance. To check the fear at the door and achieve my goals no matter the cost.” This mindset, as well as his core skills of innovative thinking and a relentless need to keep projects strategically on course, have earned him the nickname of the Enforcer within the Kingson ranks. Tongue in cheek maybe, but certainly an apt description, since he himself cites his superpower as Superhuman Determination.

Even in his downtime, Combrinck is constantly immersed in the industry that he is so passionate about. “I am currently doing Harvard’s CS50 Computer Science course and pod casts by VC greats like Reid Hoffman are what I listen to, what I am inspired by and what I use as a springboard for all that I do on a daily basis.”

Finally, on a personal note, at the top of his bucket list lies a personal goal of leaving a multigenerational impact – leaving a legacy that changes the lives of those around him and those still to come. And a trip to Vietnam, of course. His travel partner? “Without a doubt my wife. We are incredibly close; she is my best friend. My greatest challenger and my biggest fan. She is my absolute equal and matches me stride for stride.”

About Kingson Capital

Kingson Capital (Kingson) is a registered Section 12J Venture Capital Company (VCC) founded in 2015. As a Section 12 J VCC, all investments with Kingson are fully tax deductible in the tax year that they are made. This has the effect of both lowering the capital at risk and enhancing future returns for investors. Kingson invests in entrepreneurs who have unique and scalable business concepts, whose products change the current landscape and existing business models. Kingson is a Level 2 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) company.

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